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ivan@stellysee.de
| From | Ralph Alfonso <ralph@bongobeat.com> |
| Subject | Anvil - last word :) |
| Date | Fri, 01 May 2009 19:41:24 -0400 |
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>
>Date: Thu, 30 Apr 2009 17:22:06 -0400
>From: Jaimie Vernon <bullseyecanada@hotmail.com>
>To: <audities@smoe.org>
>Subject: Anvil
>Message-ID: <COL114-W50962AB905854C13F47D8EDA6C0@phx.gbl>
>
>
>Anna Borg wrote about Anvil's new documentary.
>
>
>
>And, yes, they're the real deal. Spinal Tapian or not, there's a
>dozen reasons why they never broke big -- the biggest being the
>label they were on for so many years Attic Records (one-time
>employer of BongoBeat Records' Ralph Alfonso...who did promo for the
>label and for Anvil, among others).
>
>
>
>Attic just didn't have the pull to make them into metal mavens
>having dropped them into the international market on a licensing
>deal with the early version of Road Runner Records. Besides, they
>were too busy making a young Karen Greening into metal queen
>superstar Lee Aaron instead. Lee was a much more sellable package:
>hot rock chick in a loin cloth vanquishing leather-clad 20 something
>metalheads.
>
>
>
>I ran into Rob and Lipps at CFRB radio in March. I was just
>finishing up a promo radio run with members of Klaatu when we bumped
>into the Anvil boys out in front of the station taking a smoke break
>waiting for their turn on the same show (Rock Talk and Sirius
>Iceberg 85). They were dressed exactly the same as they appear on
>stage -- black leather, headbands, long hair. In fact, they looked
>exactly the same as they did when I used to watch them in clubs like
>The Gasworks, The ElMocambo and Larry's Hideaway in the '80s. Time
>has stood still for these boys. Glad good things are finally
>happening for them.
>
hahahhahaa... my metal past returns :)
with all due respect and having worked with Anvil from the very
beginning (when they were called LIPS); their biggest problem was
lack of management. The second problem was not being able to get a US
release (and there are various versions of that story). Attic spent a
lot of money on the band in the UK and Europe (they were not an
unknown quantity since we got them on the covers of Kerrang - with a
track on a bonus flexi-disc- and Sounds at the time and the band
opened a Motorhead UK tour - this is all at the height of the UK
first wave of metal); in fact there was a UK Attic office that mostly
dealt with Anvil matters as Attic had distribution with Pinnacle for
the UK (Road Runner was also a major European distributor at the time
and the biggest Attic act was actually.... The Nylons!). Hiring
producer Chris Tsangerides is not cheap either. In Canada, I got them
the gig opening for Dio at Massey Hall. When all this activity
finally got them Lieber-Krebs as managers; the first thing they did
was pull them off Attic and they couldn't get them a US deal either.
Like you say, it was a combination of all sorts of things but
primarily, they had no manager to really take advantage of everything
and lack of a US presence meant that the US acts that were their
peers got the leg up... they were an incredible live band (I may have
actually booked that cable show in the movie as I used that show as a
place to send bands to get their interview chops together).
It is a great movie and is a lot of people's story, metal or not. I
exchanged a few emails with the guys before the movie went ballistic
and they were still the same guys I knew and that is borne out by the
movie. I just bought the Anvil book and look forward to reading that.
I worked very hard for the band when I was at Attic so we can't lay
all the blame on the label (which is no longer around. the masters
are owned by Unidisc). The unsung hero at Attic was co-owner Tom
Williams who as A&R signed up Anvil, Lee Aaron, Killer Dwarfs, The
Nylons, Triumph, Stanley Frank, etc... he was a real pioneer.
One of my old Anvil press releases is here:
http://ralphalfonso.blogspot.com/
horns up!
ralph
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